Recently released housing data compiled by HUD shows the differing housing needs challenges faced by Connecticut households. While many of the state's households face high housing costs, small non-family households pay the highest share of their income towards housing, especially in communities closest to jobs and transit.

Transit for Connecticut, a 30-member transportation advocacy coalition, has released a new report by RPA outlining steps to expand bus service. Missing Links- Prioritized Bus Service Expansion Plan proposes thirteen new routes where transit service could best replace vehicle travel. The study analyzed trip data from the Connecticut Department of Transportation that shows that adding these routes could replace up to 64,000 car trips. Karen Burnaska, Coordinator for Transit for Connecticut, believes that the new routes are "part of the solution for highway gridlock and pollution, and a way to not only improve our overall quality of life, but also make the state's transit network viable for the long term."

Download the Report (PDF 1.6MB)

RPA submitted comments yesterday on the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development's draft Economic Strategic Plan. RPA applauds DECD's efforts but calls for explicit policy objectives to guide state actions, better assessment of long-term costs and benefits, ongoing measurement of indicators that can demonstrate progress toward the State's goals, and stronger commitment to regional planning and governance restructuring. 

The plan, developed in response to a legislative mandate, describes a vision for a Connecticut with a "vibrant, diversified, and resilient economy" that promotes "responsible transit-oriented growth." Included is a proposal to sweep state discretionary municipal grant money into a "Responsible Growth for the 21st Century" fund which would award grants on a competitive basis to communities that plan for transit-oriented development. Other proposals would address the impacts of property tax dependence and would enable interagency policy consistency.

After years of working through the relevant boards and councils, Bridgeport's new citywide zoning map was approved the evening of Monday, November 30.

Along with it comes the adoption of some of the most progressive transit-oriented development zoning for the city's downtown. Using aspects of form-based codes, these new rules for redevelopment will help downtown Bridgeport achieve its goals of being a walkable, livable community that reduces its carbon emissions by avoiding automobile trips and development on the region's fringes.

RPA completed the urban design component of the downtown master plan in 2007 and drafted the corresponding Downtown Village Districts.

Amanda Kennedy of RPA's Connecticut office submitted comments this week on the State's draft Long-Range Housing Plan and draft Housing Needs Assessment and Market Analysis, which project the need for housing over the next twenty years and govern the use of state funds for affordable housing programs.